Single Assessment Numeric Evaluation for instability as an alternative to the Rowe score

Area of Science:

• Orthopedics
• Sports Medicine
• Rehabilitation Science

Background:

• Traditional shoulder instability outcome scores are often complex and lead to poor patient compliance.
• The Single Assessment Numeric Evaluation (SANE) score offers a simpler, single-question alternative.
• A modified SANE score, the SANE-instability score, was developed to evaluate shoulder instability.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess the correlation between the novel SANE-instability score and the established Rowe score.
• To determine the SANE-instability score's validity in patients treated for shoulder instability.

Main Methods:

• Prospective evaluation of 253 patients (268 shoulders) with shoulder instability.
• Collected Rowe and SANE-instability scores pre- and post-treatment.
• Correlations analyzed using Pearson coefficient (r), with subgroup analyses by follow-up length, age, and treatment type.

Main Results:

• Overall high correlation (r = 0.85) between SANE-instability and Rowe scores.
• High correlation observed across all treatment types and patient age groups.
• Correlation remained high at long-term follow-up (26-104 weeks).

Conclusions:

• The SANE-instability score demonstrates significant correlation with the Rowe score.
• Its simplicity makes it a viable alternative for patient follow-up in shoulder instability.
• The SANE-instability score can be reliably used across various patient demographics and treatment modalities.